Cavaliers: James affecting coaching searches

If any of those six teams have aspirations of signing LeBron James in free agency, a league source said, they might shy away from hiring Mike Brown as their coach.

At least three of those teams, Chicago, New Jersey and the Los Angeles Clippers, have the necessary salary-cap space to sign James.

However, that theory might go up in smoke if media reports are correct. Brown appears to be on the short list of candidates who will be interviewed by Nets president/general manager Rod Thorn.

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There is also an outside chance Brown could land an interview in Chicago.

Whether either team hires Brown is left to be seen, even though his won-loss record is among the best of the long list of coaching candidates available.

The other openings are in New Orleans, Atlanta and with the Cavaliers.

Brown's name hasn't surfaced with the Hawks and Hornets.

From all indications, James had nothing to do with Brown being fired as Cavs coach after five seasons last Sunday.

However, the perception remains replacing the coach might have been a requisite if the Cavs had any chance of re-signing James in free agency.

James will become the most sought-after free agent in league history on July 1. Probably every team in the league, even those that don't have cap space, will make a pitch to him.

The Cavs still hope they are in the driver's seat.

They appear to be proceeding with the first task at hand: Finding Brown's replacement.

Whereas most observers thought they'd aim high in the coaching sweepstakes, the first name to pop up was Bucks assistant coach Kelvin Sampson.

A high-profile college coach at Oklahoma and Indiana, he's never been a head coach in the NBA.

That's hardly the kind of candidate for which the fans were hoping. That might be the reality of the Cavs' situation, especially with James' free agency looming.

Fans expected the Cavs to make a run at someone like Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who has 10 NBA championship rings to his credit.

Jackson told AOL FanHouse on Thursday he found it an "extremely odd situation" the Cavs might be consulting James about their vacant coaching job when the latter could leave in free agency.

Jackson's contract expires after this season. He said if he coaches next season, it will likely be with the Lakers.

"This is the place that I've coached the last 10 years and I anticipate doing it more," he said. "Like I've said, 90 percent chance that, if I'm coaching, I'll be back here."

Jackson isn't sure about the Cavs.

"It's an extremely odd situation," Jackson said before Game 5 of their Western Conference final. "Anybody who's in control of the decision making knows that you have to consult with LeBron, and consulting with him is kind of odd because July 1 he's a free agent.

"So there are no guarantees to that. He obviously wants to look at free agency. So he's more than likely going to have a choice on what he wants to have done as far as some coaching names, and that's not unusual in this game."

Jackson said many teams might wait until the free-agent season is in full bloom before making a coaching hire. The Cavs might be among those teams.

"I think a lot of teams are going to wait and see what happens in free agency, see what's going to be the draw there," Jackson said.